In the four revelations of the Atlanteans, I witnessed this tongue-like entity take on human form, which is why I always assumed it was the archetype of the Atlanteans.

When I entered the Bronze Furnace alone previously, this thing had also entangled me.

It must have hidden itself in the furnace and traveled back with me.

It’s also possible that one of the long-faced men I saw before followed me back under the command of the woman on the pyramid.

This thing transformed into something like human skin and attached itself to me, allowing me to seamlessly disguise myself as *, surely with some objective in mind.

The thing transformed into its original shape and slithered onto the table like a snake, raising its head to look at me.

Just as I was wondering what it intended to do, its head began to change slowly, actually sprouting human features.

Although its head was small, I could still make out its features—it was indeed one of those long-faced men.

After waiting a moment for the small, strange face to fully form, it spoke to me in a very thin, reedy voice: "You, Nie Chuan, must die."

I paused, taking a step back, and asked, "What's going on? You're not an Atlantean?"

The thing seemed not to answer my question, as if pre-programmed, and said again, "Someone has broken the rules."

Rules again; hearing that word made my head ache.

Then it continued, "He is not the only one who can utilize the rules; your friend can as well, so you have a double."

Who is my friend? And who is "he"? I was utterly bewildered.

"You cannot be exposed; the double will die in your place," the thing added.

Although I knew it might not answer, I couldn't help asking, "What exactly is that double? Is it made of straw, or is it a human-skin puppet like you?"

Unexpectedly, the thing actually answered me.

It said, "The magnetic field on Durban Island is anomalous, causing spatial distortions between parallel universes. The moment you landed, two versions of you existed simultaneously, though you couldn't see the other. The Four True Gods are not gods; they are human and can move freely; they are not imprisoned on the island. They want to kill you, and you can only evade disaster on the island where they were born. The Master found a way for you to shuttle between parallel spaces, and after one round trip, you saw the other yourself."

I seemed to grasp its meaning and asked, "Are you saying the other me is the real me, but he is meant to die in my stead? Who wants to kill me? Is it the True Gods?"

"You are no match for the True Gods; you must die," the thing replied.

Hearing that made my heart sink, because I knew that the other me was, in fact, truly me!

This meant that I, currently disguised as *, should rightfully be the other person now.

Then what exactly am I?

My mind reeled, because there was no way I could stand by and watch the other me die. He currently represents everything I am; everyone believes him to be Nie Chuan.

So, I cannot allow myself to lose everything. If I shed this disguise and jump out claiming to be the real Nie Chuan, people will only see me as a monster capable of freely changing shape.

Under those circumstances, no matter how powerful the True Gods are, I cannot let the other me perish.

As I was thinking this, a knock suddenly came from the door.

I murmured, "Just a moment," feeling somewhat flustered.

By this time, the strange, tongue-like entity had crawled up my arm from the table.

Five seconds later, I had once again reverted to the appearance of *.

I checked myself in the mirror, confirmed there were no flaws, and then went to open the door.

When I opened it, the person standing there made me feel a bit awkward.

Because that person was precisely the other me.

To distinguish myself from him, I decided to refer to him by his name, Nie Chuan.

Nie Chuan stood at the threshold, clad in a fur coat, his nose bright red from the cold, grinning sheepishly as he looked at me.

I never realized how foolish I could look before, and suddenly, I had the strong urge to slap Nie Chuan.

Nie Chuan laughed for a moment and then said, "Awake?"

I nodded, trying my best to maintain the aloof personality of *, and replied coolly, "Yeah, how did you know?"

Nie Chuan rubbed his nose and said, "I got up for the restroom just now, saw the light on in your room, and guessed you were probably awake."

He paused, then asked, "Can I come in? Da Xiong keeps stealing my blanket; if I sleep with him again, I'm definitely going to catch a cold."

Of course, I couldn't reject myself, so I stepped aside and said, "Come in."

Nie Chuan didn't stand on ceremony, grinned, walked in, and immediately burrowed into my blanket.

I had no choice but to blow out the candle and lie down as well.

Feeling the living warmth of my other self beside me, I felt a strange discomfort.

Just then, Nie Chuan’s voice emerged from the darkness. He asked, "What were you doing up just now?"

I thought, You nosy devil, just like me, but I replied aloud, "Oh, I slept too long and couldn't fall back asleep, so I got up to sit for a bit."

Nie Chuan said again, "That's great. We’ve been asleep for a day and a night; looks like you’re rested up. I have a lot of things I need to ask you."

I was still lingering in that uncomfortable feeling, so I simply replied, "Ask away."

Nie Chuan didn't hesitate and got straight to the point: "It's nothing much, really. I just wanted to ask if you found any clues about Grandpa in the ruins. Did he go there too?"

I shook my head, then realized he couldn't see me shaking it, so I gave an awkward smile and said, "No, I didn't get any leads related to your grandpa."

Nie Chuan made a soft sound, sounding somewhat disappointed, then asked, "Then did you find out the origin of the Yaaku ancestors, and why they migrated east to China?"

I thought back, recalling my previous experiences, and remembered the Atlanteans; they were the creators of the Yaaku people, so perhaps they counted as the origin.

I hesitated for a moment about whether to tell Nie Chuan about the Atlanteans separately.

Then I reconsidered. I recalled going through life and death just to uncover these truths and suffering so much.

If I didn't tell the Nie Chuan next to me now, he would surely feel deeply troubled, and that feeling would be mutual.

So, in the end, I told Nie Chuan about the Atlanteans creating the Yaaku people and all four of their revelations, only changing the protagonist to *.

Because I understood myself too well, just as I expected, Nie Chuan's jaw nearly dropped when he heard it; he almost sprang out of the **.

"...Is everything you said true?" Nie Chuan stammered after regaining his composure for a while.

I remained silent, indicating affirmation.

Nie Chuan was bound to believe *, because * had never lied to him. So, once Nie Chuan calmed down, he stopped questioning what I said and muttered to himself, "This is astonishing, but it still doesn't explain why Grandpa did those things. Logically, Grandpa should have felt the same gratitude towards the Atlanteans as we do."

I agreed with Nie Chuan's assessment; clearly, he thought almost exactly as I did.

After a moment of silence, I took the transparent bead given to me by the Atlanteans from the bedside drawer and said, "The Atlanteans told me our next destination is recorded in this bead. Take a look."

As soon as I finished speaking, Nie Chuan, from somewhere unseen, produced a flashlight, illuminated the bead, and took it from my hand.

Like me, Nie Chuan examined the clear glass bead from all angles, then began to frown.

I thought to myself, if even I can't figure it out, neither will you, because you aren't smarter than me.

Who would have thought, at this moment, Nie Chuan said, "Could the text be engraved on the outer wall in a very small font? Let’s find a magnifying glass to look."

His reminder suddenly made me recall how many people taking the ancient imperial examinations would engrave characters onto a single grain of rice just to cheat, then view it with a magnifying glass.